WQXR Announces Nine Finalists in Classical Comedy Contest 11/8

The competition will be stiff, musical, and hilarious at Carolines on Broadway on November 8 at 7pm, when nine musical acts go for broke in the WQXR Classical Comedy Contest, a partnership between the legendary Comedy Club and the nation's most listened-to classical radio station. The competitors - including a violinist/stand-up comic who plays with the Toronto Symphony and two percussionists who met at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College - were chosen from 79 hopefuls from around the world. The winner will be selected by a world-class line-up of judges from the worlds of comedy and music. The contest is presented as part of the New York Comedy Festival.

In a field not known for humor - except perhaps when Victor Borge and Chico Marx played the piano - these comics and serious musicians will be aiming for serious laughs when they take the stage at Carolines. The winner will be awarded a trophy, a tote bag and the chance to perform a second set at the New York Comedy Festival later that week.

Finalists - who have appeared everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Comedy Central, from the Metropolitan Opera to Late Night with David Letterman - include a harpist/stand-up comic from Brooklyn; a concert pianist/magician from Poland; a New York-based soprano whose partner plays the musical saw; an opera singer with a "rogue accompanist"; a Berlin-based recorder player who performs at variety shows and circuses; Doowopera, a vocal quintet; and a Scandinavian pianist who got his start as a funny man during a concert at Victor Borge Hall in New York, whose audience included delighted members of Mr. Borge's family.

Carolines on Broadway is located at 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th Streets; ticket information is available at www.carolines.com and www.wqxr.org/comedy. The November 8 event will be taped and broadcast on public television stations THIRTEEN, WLIW21, and NJTV at a later date.